''That Man Bolt'' is a 1973 American action film directed by David Lowell Rich and Henry Levin. It stars Fred Williamson in the title role of a courier and Byron Webster. The film combined several

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other ...

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president ...

, the

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expr ...

, and

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

superspy films (with some postures featuring the

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, s ...

"He's Bonded"). It was filmed in Hong Kong, Macau and the United States and featured several martial arts experts in action: Mike Stone, World Professional Light Heavyweight Karate Champion, Kenji Kazama Japan Kickboxing Champion, Emil Farkas, European Black Belt Karate Champion, and David Chow, Former California State Judo Champion. It was titled ''Operation Hong Kong'' outside the United States. Peter Crowcroft wrote the

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the screenplay.

Plot

Courier Jefferson Bolt is asked to take a briefcase from Hong Kong to Mexico City, but he is not told what is in it or the identity of the man who asks him, a man named Griffiths. Convinced he will get good pay and see a few good places, Bolt takes on the job, while looking out for anything suspicious. Soon he does find exotic places, beautiful women, and ruthless gunmen interested in the briefcase.

Production

Fred Williamson recalled that

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

signed him for three films featuring the Bolt character as a black

, but avoiding the urban locations of

films. One director was replaced to make the film look more like a globetrotting secret agent film rather than a made for television movie. Williamson felt that Universal was not prepared to launch a

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

featuring a black star. Though no other Bolt films were made, Williamson was paid for two films.

Cast

* Fred Williamson as Jefferson Bolt * Byron Webster as Griffiths * Miko Mayama as Dominique Kuan *

Teresa Graves Terresa M. Graves (January 10, 1948October 10, 2002), credited as Teresa Graves, was an American actress and singer best known for her starring role as undercover police detective Christie Love in the ABC crime-drama television series ''Get Chr ...

as Samantha Nightingale * Masatoshi Nakamura as Kumada * John Orchard as Carter * Jack Ging as Connie Mellis * Ken Kazama as "Spider" * Vassili Lambrinos as Raoul De Vargas *

Paul Mantee Paul Mantee (born Paul Marianetti; January 9, 1931 – November 7, 2013) was an American film and television actor. Biography Mantee was born Paul Marianetti in San Francisco, California. A journalism major at San Mateo Junior College, Mante ...

as Mickey

Filming locations

*Hong Kong, UK (today China) *Las Vegas, Nevada, USA *Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, USA *Los Angeles, California, USA *Macau, Portugal (today China)

References

External links